The Dance
by Lady Knight 1512
Summary: One man. One woman. One dance.


**A/N: OK, I'm not quite sure how this is going to turn out. I hope it's not too confusing. I don't want to give it away, so I'll just give any further explanations at the end.**

**Disclaimer: The characters all belong to J. K. Rowling.**

**Please Note: This fic is based on the song, 'The Dance' by Garth Brooks. I highly recommend listening to it. It's certainly a most beautiful song, with a very touching video clip. Check them out if you can. I think I'll start putting links to lyrics in my profile page, so if you want to read the lyrics, see my page.**

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**The Dance**

He watched them from afar, those people who had once meant so much to him. The mother, the father, their boys and lone girl. His best friend cried unashamedly beside the girl with the black, silk scarf covering her unruly brown curls.

He watched the girl closely as she listened to one of the many redheaded boys talking. She closed her eyes, bowed her head and raised a handkerchief to her eyes. Her shoulders shook, and he knew, as he looked on, that she cried because of him.

He cast his mind back, remembering all the times they'd spent together. He had no trouble recalling long lost memories now. He was timeless. The first sight of her was there in his recollections, her chin held high and proud, her tone requiring nothing but co-operation. He could hear her screams and the way she called his name.

He blinked slowly and brought up one particular memory, from not quite so long ago.

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_The stars shine in the night sky, so very high above them. He tugs her hand to make her run faster. _

_She complies, but asks breathlessly, "Where are we going?"_

_He gives no reply and she says his name._

"_Just a little further."_

_The gradual slope they are climbing flattens out. She looks around at the other hills surrounding them, noticing that he has wisely chosen the easiest to climb and descend. _

_There is nothing to be seen for miles, but hills and trees. It is beautiful, particularly after the hectic schedule that their lives have taken on in the last few months. She looks up at the stars and gasps in awe._

"_The sky looks so big from up here," she whispers._

"_Do you like it?"_

_She nods. "I love it. I feel like we're on top of the world."_

_He turns her in his arms so that she is looking up into his eyes. He traces her jaw with one delicate finger and she sighs._

_Taking one hand, he twirls her around and her hair flies out in a circle. She laughs as he brings her back into the circle of his arms. They dance there, on that hill with no one but the moon, the stars and the endless sky to witness it._

_He is happy. In this one moment, nothing else matters, everything in the world is as it should be._

_She is everything to him, this girl, this young woman who knows him as no one else does or ever will. _

_Things are different when they are alone. She never treats him differently, fails to see what everyone else sees. With her, he is just a man. In their world, he is the king, and she, his queen._

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He let the memory fade away. If he had only known then, how the king would fall. If he had though, everything might have changed; he might have given her up and gone on without her.

As he watched her throw in her fistful of dirt, he was glad that he hadn't known how it would all end. Surely, it was infinitely better to live life without any idea of what was around the corner. If you knew how your life turned out, you'd never take those chances that change your life, for better or worse.

Yes, had he known what life held in store for him, he would have missed all the pain, physical, emotional and mental, but he also would have missed the dance. That dance was everything; one moment in time that had felt endless.

The crowd walked slowly away, leaving the girl lingering behind. She looked down at the white stone in front of her, brought her fingers to her lips and touched them to the stone. As he watched, he felt a delicate kiss that he knew well touch his cheek.

She turned away and followed the group in the distance.

He moved towards the white oblong she had just departed from. Hands in his pockets, he stared down at the few simple words written there.

_Here lies_

_Harry James Potter_

_Friend, son, soul mate, saviour._

He lifted his head and turned to look at the retreating backs of those who had come to mourn him. His eyes fixed on the girl and he whispered her name into the breeze.

"Hermione."

She came to an abrupt stop. Slowly, she turned back to the stone that marked his final resting place.

She couldn't see him. No one could anymore, but it didn't bother him as he had once thought it would. He knew what no one else did; that at that moment, deep within her, was one tiny ball of life that would give him back to them.

He could see everything that life held in store for her and the little boy that would make her tears both stop and start when she looked at him.

She would never truly grow old. She would never be reliant upon anyone; her hair would not turn white, but instead a steely grey. The lines that would eventually crease her face would only make her all the more beautiful. She would never marry, instead becoming an adoptive aunt to all the next Weasley children. Her heart would always belong to him.

He watched her shake her head, smile gently, turn her back and keep walking. He only turned away when she was out of sight.

He felt a brief moment of sadness that he wouldn't be there when their son took his first steps, started school, or got married. The feeling passed when he realised that he would be, they just wouldn't be able to see him.

He walked towards the trees and smiled as they appeared before them, the woman with the red hair and vibrant emerald eyes, and the man with the messy black hair.

The woman, his mother, cupped his cheek in her hand, and his father squeezed his shoulder.

As one, they continued into the trees, gradually fading away.

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**A/N: Gosh, that was a little depressing, wasn't it? I hope you like it though. I'm quite proud of it. I think it actually made sense too! If anything needs clarifying, please feel free to ask me, and don't forget that the lyrics will be on my profile page. **

**Sorry it's so short, but the song isn't very long, and besides, sometimes less is more!**

**Now, for all that hard work, don't you think I deserve a review from all you great readers?**

**BTW, at the beginning of the video clip, Garth Brooks talks about how many people think of this song in terms of a lost love. It can indeed be thought of in that manner, but there is also something deeper there, as you would see if you were to watch the clip. The clip features scenes from the lives of ordinary people who became heroes; people like Martin Luther King Jr., John Wayne and John F. Kennedy.**

**I guess you could say that I took both interpretations and put them together to form one story. Again, I urge you to listen to this song. It's very moving. I promise you won't regret it.**


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